{"id":9017,"date":"2024-04-02T21:29:12","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T21:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.use-snip.com\/kb\/?post_type=ht_kb&p=9017"},"modified":"2024-04-11T17:50:23","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T17:50:23","slug":"map-setup-settings","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/www.use-snip.com\/kb\/knowledge-base\/map-setup-settings\/","title":{"rendered":"Map Display Settings"},"content":{"rendered":"

From revision 3.14 onward SNIP<\/strong> <\/span>supports both Google Maps and the Open Street Maps (OSM) as the source for map displays.\u00a0\u00a0 This article explains how to use the controls found in the Map Display Setting\u2026<\/em><\/strong> dialog to set your preferred map source and style, and to better control how your maps are rendered.<\/p>\n

You can open the Map Setting Dialog <\/em><\/strong>with the menu command:\u00a0 Setup<\/strong> \u21d2 Map Display Settings\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The dialog is divided into three sections, each in its own tab.<\/p>\n

The Open Street Maps Tab<\/strong>
\nUsed to set the default style and features used for OSM maps.<\/p>\n

The Google Maps Tab<\/strong>
\nUsed to set the default style and features used for Google maps.<\/p>\n

A Misc. Settings Tab\u00a0<\/strong>
\nUsed to set various radius distances, line and fill colors, lines widths
\nand other options used in drawing the maps<\/p>\n

The default map source (Google or OSM) can be set in either of the first two tabs. The current default map setting is always shown in a label at the top of the dialog.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 In the Rev 3.14.00<\/strong> release of SNIP<\/strong><\/span>, issued in April 2024, the default map style has been hard wired to always be Goggle at start up. \u00a0This was done to not alarm deployments with a new style.\u00a0 You can set this to be OSM (simply press the Restore Defaults<\/strong> button) if you wish or check the user OSM box.\u00a0 In future releases the map source will respect your preferences, and for new deployments will default to the OSM style.<\/p>\n

General<\/h4>\n

The OSM and Google tabs also allow you to set an API key for that map source, if needed.\u00a0 If you use a great number of maps, in rare cases SNIP<\/strong> <\/span>may block further map creation for a period of time and suggest you obtain your own Map API key for use.\u00a0 The measurement threshold process is reset every 4 hours, so any block will be temporary.\u00a0 At the time of writing these keys are free for both sources and allow moderate levels of use. And they are still inexpensive if you have frequent large usage needs.\u00a0 In the case of the Google tab you can also set the revision of the Google Map API that the maps will use. This overcomes Google apparent inability to maintain a stable long term API release.<\/p>\n

Both Google Maps and Open Street Maps allow you to choose either a \u201cstreets\u201d view or a \u201chybrid satellite\u201d view of the underlying base map.\u00a0 The default setting uses the streets view, but if your user community is primarily Precision Agriculture, you may prefer to make the hybrid satellite view the default.\u00a0 The OSM map sources provide several other styles as well, these are discussed in more detail in the next section.\u00a0 \u00a0In our limited testing we have found that while Goggle generally provides better resolution in its satellite images, in many places Open Street Maps provides better coverage.\u00a0 You will simply have the try each in your own operational regional and decide, but it is easy to switch from one format to the other.\u00a0 In neither case should you ever rely on the precise location of any image shown as being correct, as there are obvious offsets from one map tile to another within both systems and almost no documentation of the datum that was used.<\/p>\n

Each of these tabs is discussed in greater detail below.\u00a0 \u00a0As is found in many SNIP<\/strong><\/span> dialogs, the small green \u201ci\u201d<\/strong> icon<\/span> will bring up this article in the document viewer when pressed.<\/p>\n

Open Street Maps<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The settings for using Open Street Maps as the base map source are shown below.<\/p>\n

Simply check the checkbox marked \u201cSet Open Street Maps (OSM) as default style<\/strong><\/em>\u201d to enable this as your preferred map provider.\u00a0 You may also need to regenerate any recent reports so that the page links follow this choice.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

API Key<\/h3>\n

The next line concerns providing an API key of your own for use with OSM.\u00a0 Most deployments will never need to use this, as their use of map will be sufficiently low as to never produce a warning or a temporary blockage.\u00a0\u00a0 When checked, the API key you provide will be used rather than the default one(s) provided by SNIP<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

The Test<\/strong> button at the right will use the entered key (or the default one if none is entered) to display an interesting test map of worldwide historical earthquakes in your local browser (whatever default application you have registered to display *.html content).\u00a0 If there no nothing registered to handle this file type, an error is displayed.\u00a0 We recommend you install and register Firefox<\/a> or Chrom<\/a>e as the preferred application if this is needed.\u00a0\u00a0 The resulting displayed map confirms that everything is working and that you will be able to use the map to display bases and users.\u00a0 A typical example of a working test map is shown below.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hint<\/strong><\/em>: The above map shows an example of point clustering.
\nJust click on any numbered circle to automatically zoom in and expand that cluster.<\/p>\n

Map Language\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h3>\n

SNIP<\/strong><\/span> maps now provide a basic language choice as well, which is used to select the language used to display some (but not all) labels in the base map.\u00a0 The default setting will follow the language used on the host machine.\u00a0 We provide several dozen major languages to select from with the OSM maps.\u00a0\u00a0 However, the underlying base maps each implement non-English languages in somewhat inconsistent ways.\u00a0 Minor street and place names are frequently not<\/strong> translated (they are often displayed in the local vernacular). \u00a0This is seen in the two images below (English on the left, with Japanese on the right, click to expand).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Map Style<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This control is used to select the style of base map to be used.\u00a0 Beside a \u201cstreets\u201d view and the \u201chybrid \/ satellite\u201d view, the OSM map sources provide a number of other styles which can be very useful in different use cases. \u00a0You can select the initial map style to be used with this drop-down control.\u00a0 In the OSM map display itself, we have created a pop-out control along the lower left side that allows selecting and switching to another view as well, just select the style wanted and the map is redrawn. \u00a0The supported choices are:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

These nine style choices are as follows<\/p>\n

Streets\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> Shows labeled streets and most major buildings along with other cities\/states, various ground features, and points of interest.<\/p>\n

Hybrid\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> Shows a combination of a Satellite view overwritten with major street center-lines and selected names and places labeled.<\/p>\n

Basic\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> Shows labeled streets and selected features in a simple and clean layout.\u00a0 Many buildings labels are not shown and there is less labeling of details than the \u201cstreets\u201d view provides.<\/p>\n

Satellite\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> Shows a classic Satellite view only, no additional labeling or annotation is provided.<\/p>\n

Winter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> Shows a high-contrast view with labeled streets and (unlabeled) dark buildings.\u00a0 Some historical snow line coverage is also shown.\u00a0 Good for use when vegetation details would not be helpful.<\/p>\n

Bright \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> Show a high-contrast view of streets and buildings with labels limited to streets and larger roadways.<\/p>\n

Topo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> Shows a topographical view of the ground elevations, building outlines (in some regions) and various green spaces, with generally more limited labeling.<\/p>\n

OSM\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> Shows a street map using the classic Open Street Map (OSM) colors and features.<\/p>\n

Oceans\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> Shows a view with the topographical depths of oceans, lakes, and various waterways displayed.\u00a0 Shows few features when inland.\u00a0 Useful for those doing coastal, hydrological, and dredging work.<\/p>\n

The dialog tab provides a number of \u00a0other Optional<\/strong> choices as well.<\/p>\n